Florida Realtors has launched its new Residential Price Index reports, which give Realtors, their clients and others interested in the state's housing market a better understanding of home price trends.

"Realtors will be able to use the index, now and in the future, to give consumers an accurate picture as to what is actually happening in their markets," said John Tuccillo, chief economist for Florida Realtors.

When Tuccillo took up the post as chief economist for the state Realtor association last year, high on his to-do list was to develop a "comprehensive and accurate" price index for residential properties in the state of Florida. Essentially, a price index tracks and summarizes the individual price movements of specified goods or services over time into a single measure, he explained.

Florida Realtors' statewide Residential Price Index measures the course of individual residential property prices from 1995 through August 2011. It is derived from parcel data maintained by the Florida Department of Revenue, and covers all sales of real property that occurred during those 17 years. Since the index follows the consecutive sales of specific properties, it tracks price trends in Florida's residential real estate market over time, according to Tuccillo.

"There is no other resource available like it. It's really the first of its kind in the nation," said Florida Realtors President Summer Greene, regional manager of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Florida 1st in Fort Lauderdale. "Florida Realtors is taking the lead in providing this comprehensive index to our members to help homebuyers and sellers, and also to the public as valuable insight into home price trends throughout Florida."

Tuccillo said the index also uses data methods to account for the characteristics of homes that are selling, and can provide a clearer picture of what's happening to the value of housing stock.